LINCOLN    AND    THE 
CONVENTION  OF  186O 


AN  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE 

CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

APRIL  4,   1918 


BY 


ADDISON  G.  PROCTER 

DELEGATE  FROM  KANSAS  TO  THE  CONVENTION  THAT 
NOMINATED  LINCOLN  AND  DELEGATE  FROM  MICHIGAN 
TO  THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1916 


Anmsox  G.  PROCTER 


LINCOLN    AND    THE 
CONVENTION  OF  I860 


AN  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE 

CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

APRIL  4,   1918 


BY 


ADDISON  G.  PROCTER 

DELEGATE  FROM  KANSAS  TO  THE  CONVENTION  THAT 
NOMINATED  LINCOLN  AND  DELEGATE  FROM  MICHIGAN 
TO  THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  CONVENTION-  OF  1916 


CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
1918 


t 

V  ,, 


o 


LINCOLN  AND  HIS 
BY  ADDISON  G.  PROCTER 

Youngest  Delegate  to  the  Convention  of  i860  That 
Nominated  Lincoln 

The  year  1860  introduced  into  our  national  life 
Abraham  Lincoln,  one  of  the  most  remarkable,  and 
certainly  the  most  interesting  character  that  had  graced 
our  history  since  the  time  of  Washington. 

How  this  man,  born  to  poverty  and  obscurity,  whose 
life  from  its  earliest  days  to  middle  age  was  one  con 
tinuous  struggle  for  a  bare  existence, — who  came  to 
the  State  of  Illinois  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  a  raw 
backwoodsman,  clothed  in  the  homespun  that  he  had 
earned  by  the  splitting  of  rails, — how  this  man  could 
have  so  impressed  himself  on  the  people  of  that  great 
State,  and  of  this  great  Nation,  as  to  become  the  chosen 
and  accepted  leader  of  a  great  national  party  at  the 
most  critical  time  in  the  affairs  of  this  country,  must 
always  remain  one  of  the  interesting  chapters  of  our 
political  history. 

There  met  that  year  in  the  city  of  Chicago  in  the 
month  of  May  a  convention  composed  of  466  delegates 
from  the  Northern  and  border  states  of  the  South. 
They  were  men  of  strong  convictions,  who  had  met 
for  a  very  decided  purpose.  Slavery,  as  a  political 
power,  had  been  growing  more  and  more  aggressive, 
and  dictatorial.  It  had  trampled  upon  all  of  the  com 
promises,  had  outraged  the  moral  sensibilities  of  the 
North  by  its  fugitive  slave  law,  and  under  cover  of  a 
recent  supreme  court  decision  it  was  attempting  to 
force  itself  into  the  free  territories  of  the  Northwest, 


437.1 


and  so  the  temper  of  that  convention  was  that  of  exas 
peration. 

To  the  west,  stretching  from  the  valley  of  the  Mis 
souri  River,  to  the  far  off  Pacific  Ocean,  lay  one  great 
undeveloped  empire,  promising,  as  we  all  realized, 
tremendous  possibilities.  To  that  great  empire  of  the 
West,  this  convention  invited  the  people  of  the  world, 
to  come  and  help  in  its  development,  and  to  share  in 
its  prosperity,  and  pledged  the  faith  of  that  great  party 
that  they  represented  to  the  dedicating  for  all  time  of 
this  great  empire  to  the  upbuilding  and  maintaining 
of  free  homes  for  free  men,  and  so,  like  an  intrepid 
gladiator  this  convention  strode  into  the  national  arena, 
threw  its  gauntlet  of  defiance  into  the  face  of  slavery, 
and  proclaimed — thus  far  may  thou  go,  but  no  farther. 

This  great  purpose  of  the  convention  having  been 
determined  and  made  a  part  of  the  platform  on  which 
they  stood,  by  an  unanimous  vote,  the  next,  and  most 
vital  question  was — to  whom  in  view  of  this  emergency 
we  are  creating,  can  we  dare  to  entrust  the  leadership? 
That  was  the  question  that  gave  us  pause. 

There  had  come  to  that  convention,  largely  from  the 
East,  a  well  organized  body  of  delegates  demanding 
the  nomination  for  the  Presidency  of  Senator  Wm.  H. 
Seward  of  New  York.  Mr.  Seward  had  been  promi 
nent  in  National  affairs  for  many  years.  As  Governor 
of  the  great  State  of  New  York,  and  as  United  States 
Senator  he  had  attracted  unusual  attention  by  his  ability 
and  clear  statesmanship.  He  was  by  all  odds  the  most 
prominent  man  of  his  party  at  that  time.  He  was  repre 
sented  in  that  delegation  by  many  of  the  most  noted 
political  manipulators  of  his  party  under  the  leader 
ship  of  Thurlow  Weed,  the  most  adroit  politician  of 
his  day.  Seward  had  come  to  that  convention  backed 


by  this  great  element,  full  of  confidence,  lacking  less 
than  sixty  votes  of  enough  to  control  that  entire  conven 
tion,  pledged  to  him  on  that  first  ballot.  The  advent  of 
the  Seward  delegations  from  the  East  into  Chicago  was 
the  spectacular  event  of  the  pre-convention  days. 

Outside  this  great  movement  for  Seward  all  seemed 
confusion  and  disintegration. 

Vermont  was  asking  for  the  nomination  of  her  able 
and  popular  Senator,  Jacob  Collimer,  who  had  filled 
many  places,  including  a  cabinet  membership,  and 
Supreme  Judgeship,  and  always  with  honor. 

New  Jersey  was  asking  for  the  nomination  of  her 
Judge  and  Senator,  William  L.  Dayton,  who  had  stood 
with  Fremont  four  years  before,  and  gone  down  to 
defeat  on  a  ticket  that  many  suggested  "Had  the  head 
where  the  tail  ought  to  be." 

Pennsylvania  was  asking  for  the  nomination  of  her 
able,  aggressive  Senator,  Simon  Cameron,  with  the 
whole  Penn  delegation  at  his  call. 

Ohio  was  urging  the  nomination  of  her  splendid 
specimen  of  Senator  and  statesman,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
afterward  our  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Missouri,  with  a  splendid  delegation  made  up  of  a 
new  element  that  everyone  wanted  to  encourage,  was 
asking  for  the  naming  of  her  eminent  jurist,  Judge 
Edward  Bates. 

And  Illinois  was  there  with  a  united  and  very  active 
delegation  asking  for  the  nomination  of  a  man,  who 
was  neither  judge  nor  senator,  just  a  plain  citizen, 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

This  was  the  condition  confronting  us  as  we  faced 
the  responsibility  of  that  nomination  for  leadership. 

We  had  come  to  that  convention  from  far  away 
Kansas,  from  "out  on  the  border."  We  had  been  mak- 


ing  a  very  determined  fight  against  the  aggressions  of 
the  slave  power,  a  conflict  that  had  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  the  entire  country  and  had  been  of  such  value 
to  the  party  that  they,  through  their  national  commit 
tee,  had  invited  us  to  a  full  participation  in  the  councils 
of  the  convention.  For  this  reason  our  little  delegation 
of  six  were  the  recipients  of  many  marked  attentions. 

The  morning  of  our  arrival  we  were  invited  to  an 
interview  with  Thurlow  Weed  at  his  parlor  at  the 
Richmond  House. 

We  had  a  touch  of  trepidation  as  we  contemplated 
being  ushered  into  the  presence  of  this  noted  political 
mogul,  but  we  braced  up  our  courage  and  went.  He 
met  us  at  the  door  of  his  parlor.  We  were  introduced, 
as  we  passed  in,  by  our  Chairman  and  seated  about  the 
big  round  table  in  the  center  of  the  parlor. 

Mr.  Weed  was  most  gracious  in  his  manner,  and 
dispelled  all  terror  from  the  start.  He  stood  by  the 
table  while  we  were  seated  about  him  and  addressed 
each  one  of  us  personally,  calling  each  of  us  by  name, 
which  appealed  to  us  as  something  remarkable,  seeing 
that  our  introduction  was  so  informal.  That  ability 
was  probably  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  wonderful  influ 
ence,  the  ability  to  associate  the  name  and  the  face,  an 
adroit  quality,  essential  to  the  successful  politician.  He 
was  an  attractive  man  and  very  interesting.  After  com 
plimenting  us  on  the  good  work  accomplished  out  on 
the  border  and  thanking  us  most  graciously  for  the 
service  rendered  to  the  country  and  to  the  party  he 
turned  to  the  question  of  the  impending  nomination. 

He  said,  "Four  years  ago  we  went  to  Philadelphia  to 
name  our  candidate  and  we  made  one  of  the  most  inex 
cusable  blunders  any  political  party  has  ever  made  in 
this  country.  We  nominated  a  man  who  had  no  quali- 


fication  for  the  position  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  this 
Republic.  "Why,"  he  said,  "that  boy  Fremont  had 
not  one  single  quality  to  commend  him  for  the  Presi 
dency.  The  Country  realized  this.  We  were  defeated 
as  we  probably  deserved  to  be  and  we  have  that  lesson 
of  defeat  before  us  today."  He  went  on  to  say,  "We 
are  facing  a  crisis;  there  are  troublous  times  ahead  of 
us.  We  all  recognize  that.  What  this  country  will 
demand  as  its  chief  executive  for  the  next  four  years 
is  a  man  of  the  highest  order  of  executive  ability,  a 
man  of  real  statesmanlike  qualities,  well  known  to  the 
Country,  and  of  large  experience  in  national  affairs.  No 
other  class  of  men  ought  to  be  considered  at  this  time. 
We  think  we  have  in  Mr.  Seward  just  the  qualities  the 
Country  will  need.  He  is  known  by  us  all  as  a  states 
man.  As  Governor  of  New  York  he  has  shown  splendid 
executive  ability.  As  Senator  he  has  shown  himself  to 
be  a  statesman,  and  a  political  philosopher.  He  is  espe 
cially  equipped  in  a  knowledge  of  our  foreign  relations, 
and  will  make  a  candidate  to  whom  our  people  can 
look  with  a  feeling  of  security.  We  expect  to  nominate 
him  on  the  first  ballot,  and  to  go  before  the  Country 
full  of  courage  and  confidence."  He  thanked  us  for 
the  call  and  gave  each  of  us  a  friendly  handshake  at 
parting. 

As  he  stood  at  our  table,  so  gracious,  so  assuring,  so 
genial  and  friendly,  with  all  our  previous  estimate  of 
him  dispelled,  I  was  reminded  of  Byron's  picture  of 
his  Corsair  as  "the  mildest  mannered  man  that  ever 
scuttled  ship  or  cut  a  throat,"  politically,  of  course. 

We  had  hardly  gotten  back  to  our  rooms  at  the 
Briggs  House  when  in  came  Horace  Greeley,  dressed 
in  his  light  drab  suit  with  soft  felt  hat  which  he  threw 
carelessly  on  our  table.  A  clear  red  and  white  com- 


plexion,  blue  eyes  and  flaxen  hair,  he  looked,  as  he 
stood  there,  for  all  the  world  like  a  well-to-do  dairy 
farmer  fresh  from  his  clover  field.  He  was  certainly  an 
interesting  figure,  and  he  seemed  to  find  a  place  in  our 
hearts  at  a  bound.  As  a  journalist  he  was  full  of  com 
pliments  for  the  good  news  we  had  furnished  to  his 
Tribune  and  we  were  all  drawn  to  him  by  his  irresist 
ible  smile. 

"I  suppose  they  are  telling  you,"  said  Greeley  in  a 
drawly  tone,  "that  Seward  is  the  be  all  and  the  end  all 
of  our  existence  as  a  party,  our  great  statesman,  our 
profound  philosopher,  our  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  our 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,  but  I  want  to  tell  you  boys  that 
in  spite  of  all  this  you  couldn't  elect  Seward  if  you 
could  nominate  him.  You  must  remember  as  things 
stand  today  we  are  a  sectional  party.  We  have  no 
strength  outside  the  North,  practically  we  must  have 
the  entire  North  with  us  if  we  hope  to  win.  Now, 
there  are  states  of  the  North  that  cannot  be  induced 
to  support  Seward,  and  without  these  states  we  cannot 
secure  electoral  votes  enough  to  elect.  So,  to  name 
Seward,  is  to  invite  defeat.  He  cannot  carry  New  Jer 
sey,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  or  Iowa,  and  I  will  bring 
to  you  representative  men  from  each  of  these  states  who 
will  confirm  what  I  say."  And  sure  enough  he  did, 
bringing  to  us  Governor  Andy  Curtain  of  Pennsylvania, 
Governor  Henry  S.  Lane  of  Indiana,  Governor  Kirk- 
wood  of  Iowa,  each  of  whom  confirmed  what  Greeley 
had  said  and  gave  their  reasons  for  the  belief. 

Governor  Curtain  was  particularly  emphatic.  He 
said,  "I  am  the  Republican  candidate  for  Governor.  At 
the  last  national  election  Mr.  Buchanan  carried  Penn 
sylvania  by  50,000  majority.  I  expect  to  be  elected  on 
the  Republican  ticket  by  as  large  a  majority  as  Mr. 


Buchanan  had  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  making  a 
change  of  100,000  votes,  but  I  can  only  do  this  if  you 
give  me  a  man  as  presidential  candidate  acceptable  to 
my  people.  I  could  not  win  with  Mr.  Seward  as  our 
candidate."  He  was  a  bright  looking,  enthusiastic, 
young  fellow,  and  had  every  indication  of  making  what 
he  later  proved  to  be,  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  our 
war  governors.  Governor  Lane  and  Governor  Kirk- 
wood  both  gave  the  same  evidence  touching  Indiana  and 
Iowa.  This  was  the  work  of  Horace  Greeley,  to  satisfy 
the  convention  that  the  nomination  of  Seward  would 
mean  defeat,  and  he  certainly  did  effective  work. 

We  had  calls  from  strong  men,  all  in  a  wide  awake 
determination  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  emergency, 
among  them  Governor  John  A.  Andrews  of  Massa 
chusetts  with  quite  a  group  of  New  England  delegates. 
But  Greeley  was  the  most  untiring  of  workers.  I  doubt 
if  Horace  Greeley  slept  three  consecutive  hours  during 
the  entire  session  of  that  convention. 

The  afternoon  of  the  day  before  we  were  likely  to 
reach  the  balloting  Greeley  came  in  to  see  us.  He  was 
very  much  discouraged.  He  could  see  no  way  to  effect 
i  consolidation  of  the  elements  opposed  to  Seward  and 
le  feared  that  Seward  would  win  on  the  first  ballot. 
Hfe  seemed  tired  and  depressed.  "Mr.  Greeley,"  said 
me  of  our  delegates.  "Who  do  you  really  prefer  to 
;ee  nominated,  tell  us?"  Greeley  hesitated  a  moment 
ind  sort  of  bracing  up  he  said,  "I  believe  Edward 
Bates  of  Missouri  is  the  safest  nomination  for  us  to 
nake.  He  is  a  very  able  man  and  he  comes  from  a 
ection  that  we  ought  to  have  with  us.  He  is  not  well 
mown  in  the  East,  and  for  that  reason  I  am  hesitating 
n  urging  him  strongly  but  he  would  make  a  good 


candidate  and  an  able  President  if  elected,  but  I  am 
hesitating." 

"Mr.  Greeley,"  said  one  of  our  group,  "What  do  you 
think  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  a  candidate?  Why  not 
urge  him?"  "Lincoln,"  said  Mr.  Greeley,  speaking  very 
slowly  as  if  weighing  each  word,  "is  a  very  adroit 
politician.  He  has  a  host  of  friends  out  here  in  Illinois 
who  seem  to  see  something  in  him  that  the  rest  of  us 
haven't  seen  yet.  He  has  a  very  interesting  history  that 
would  make  good  campaign  literature,  but  the  trouble 
with  Lincoln  is  this,  he  has  had  no  experience  in  Na 
tional  affairs,  and  facing  a  crisis  as  we  all  believe,  I 
doubt  if  such  a  nomination  would  be  acceptable.  It  is 
too  risky  an  undertaking.  I  think  Bates  would  be  safer." 
And  that  was  Horace  Greeley,  the  leader  of  the  opposi 
tion,  only  a  few  hours  before  we  would  reach  the  actual 
balloting. 

Soon  after  Greeley  had  gone  we  got  a  message  on  a 
card  saying:  "A  company  of  Unionists  from  the 
border  states  would  like  to  meet  you  in  your  rooms." 
"Have  them  come,  right  away,"  was  our  reply  to  the 
messenger.  Soon  there  came  pushing  their  way  into 
our  little  parlor  a  group  of  about  thirty  of  as  resolute 
a  looking  body  of  men  as  I  had  ever  seen,  and  I  had 
seen  some  of  that  stamp  I  thought  out  on  the  border. 
They  were  of  that  sharp  eyed,  broad  jawed,  Scotch 
Irish  type;  the  typical  ^mountaineers  of  the  South,  in- 
ten?e,  and  volcanic,  standing  for  something,  and  stand 
ing  resolutely.  We  realized  instantly  that  the  intense 
moments  had  come.  We  hurriedly  arranged  oufToom 
to  seat  as  many  as  we  could,  and  the  others  stood  against 
the  four  walls,  filling  the  room  so  that  we  felt  that  we 
were  in  close  touch  with  some  full  charged  electric 
battery. 


10 


As  Clay  stepped  forward  and  stood  at  the  head  of 
our  table  at  which  we  were  all  seated  there  was  a  deep 
intense  silence,  for  a  moment.    As  he  stood  posed  there, 
ready,  he  was  the  ideal  Kentucky  Colonel  with  all  the 
mannerisms  of  that  element  so  well  pictured  in  our 
literature.    A  fascinating  man,  handsome  to  look  upon, 
faultlessly  dressed,  keen,  bright  and  emotional.     We 
could  not  keep  our  eyes  off  as  he  stood  like  a  waiting 
orator  charged  with  a  volcanic  mission.    As  he  stepped 
closer  to  the  table,  leaning  forward  with  a  sort  of  con 
fidential  gesture,  speaking  right  into  our  very  faces  he 
said,  "Gentlemen,  we  are  on  the  brink  of  a  great  Civil 
War."    He  paused  as  if  to  note  the  effect.    He  seemed 
to  have  caught  a  look  of  incredulity  creeping  over  our 
faces   that   he   chose   to    interpret   in   his   own   way. 
Straightening  himself,  looking  every  inch  the  orator 
he  said:  "You  undoubtedly  have  heard  that  remark  be 
fore,  but  I  want  you  to  know  that  that  fact  will  soon  be 
[lashed  to  you  in  a  way  you  will  more  readily  compre 
hend.    Gentlemen,  we  are  from  the  South  and  we  want 
you  to  know  that  the  South  is  preparing  for  war.     If 
'he  man  that  you  nominate  at  this  convention  should 
'DC  elected  on  the  platform  you  have  already  adopted  the 
South  will  attempt  the  destruction  of  this  Union.    On 
/our  southern  border  stretching  from  the  east  coast  of 
Vlaryland  to  the  Ozarks  of  Missouri  there  stand  today 
i  tody  of  resolute  men  (of  whom  these  are  the  represen- 
atives)  who  are  determined  thatJJ^Umon  shall  not 
>e  dissolved  except  at  the  end*$|SBRerrible  struggle  in 
esisfance. 

"It  makes  a  wonderful  difference  who  you  name  for 
his  leadership  at  this  time,  a  wonderful  difference  to 
ou  but  a  vital  difference  to  us.  Our  homes  and  all  we 
tossess  are  in  peril,  we  realize  just  what  is  before  us. 


These  men  of  the  southern  border  had  chosen  as  their 
spokesman  Cassius  M.  Clay  of  Kentucky. 
You  must  give  us  a  leader  at  this  time  who  will  inspire 
our  confidence  and  our  courage.    We  must  have  ?uch~~' 
a  "leader  or  we  are  lost.    We  have  such  a  man — a  man 
who  we  will  follow  to  the  end.    We  want  your  help," 
and  leaning  forward  in  a  half  suppressed  whisper,  he 
said,  "We  want  you  to  name  Abraham  Lincoln.     He 
was  born  among  us  and  we  believe  he  understands  us7~ 

'Tou~l^enrs~trrrro^  "puslf'back  your 

battle  lines  from  the  Ohio  (right  at  your  doors)  back 
across  the  Tennessee  into  the  regions  where  it  belongs. 
You  give  us  Lincoln  and  we  will  join  this  Union 
strength  full  of  enthusiasm  with  your  Union  Army  and 
drive  secession  to  its  lair.  Do  this  for  us  and  let  us  go 
home  and  pTeparefor  the  conflict?" 

Here  was  a  new  issue,  just  at  a  psychological  moment, 
when  everyone  realized  that  something  unusual  had  to 
happen.  Up  to  this  time  it  had  been  "how  shall  we 
keep  slavery  out  of  the  territories?"  Now  it  was  the 
question,  "how  shall  we. ..make  sure  to  preserve  this 
Union?"  On  this  new  line  of  formation  the  army  was 
drawn  up  for  its  new  drive. 

This  impassioned  appeal  of  Clay,  first  given  to  us, 
reached  the  many  hesitating  delegates,  and  aroused  a 
new  vitalization  all  alohg"the  line.  "Probably  the  more 
conservative  presentation  of  the  issue  made  by  Gover 
nor  Henry  S.  Lane  of  Indiana  did  much  to  supplement 
the  more  volcanic  work  of  Clay. 

Lane,  said  to  us.  "I  am  Governor  of  Indiana.  I 
know  my  people  well.  In  the  south  half  of  my  State 
a  good  proportion  of  my  people  have  come-fxam  Slave 
States  of  the  South.  They  were  poor  people,  forced  to 
Work  for  a  living,  and  they  did  not  want  to  bring  up 


12 


their  families  to  labor  in  competition  with  the  slaves, 
so  they  have  moved  to  Indiana  to  get  away  from  that 
influence.  They  will  not  tolerate  slavery  in  Indiana 
or  in  our  free  territo7Tes"but:  they  will  not  oppose  it 
where  it  is,  if  it  will  only  stay  there.  These  people 
want  a  man  of  the^  Lincoln  type  as  their  President. 
They  are  afraid  Seward  w7ould  be  influenced  by  that 
abolition  element  of  the  Eastjjad  make  war  on  slavery 
wfrere"it7tii:  This  they~lKrjr6l~wmi^^lKey  believe 
""Lincoln?  understanding  this  as  one  of  their  kind  would 
be  acceptable  and  would  probably  get  the  support  of 
this  entire  element.  If  at  any  time  the  South  should 
undertake  in  the  interest  of  slavery  to  destroy  this 
Union  we  can  depend  on  everyone  of  this  class  to 
shoulder  his  musket  and  go  to  the  front  in  defense  of 
a  United  Nation  even  at  the  cost  of  slavery  itself." 

This  new  issue,  fostered  by  the  strong  Illinois  dele 
gation  under  the  adroit  leadership  of  David  Davis, 
pressed  by  the  impetuous  oratory  of^^JTay ana1 
strengthened  by  the  sincere  and  convincing  arguments 
of  Governor  Lane  of  Indiana,  was  the  real  prevailing 
influence  that  brought  cohesion  out  of  disintegration 
and  centerecT  the  full  stre^igtri^  of  the  opposition  on  the 
one-man.  It  was  an^adroit  piece  of  work,  as  effective  as 
it"was  adroit. 

As  the  spectre  of  civil  war  loomed  before  us,  be 
coming  more  and  more  convincing  and  menacing,  we 
came  to  realize  the  ne£d_^_coiis.e^ving  that__  element. 
It  grew  on  us  that  this  element  might  be  a  controlling 
factor  in  the  great  struggle  before  us.  It  might  be  de 
cisive  and  the  thought  gave  us  deep  concern. 

Later  when  the  conflict  was  upon  us  and  we  saw  200, 
ooo  of  these  fighting  men  from  our  slave  states  of  the 
border  enlisted  in  our  Union  army,  we  more  fully  real 


ized  the  vital  influence  and  superb  wisdom  of  that 
final  decision. 

But  the  battle  was  not  over.  Strong  appeals  were 
being  made  by  both  elements.  The  Seward  forces 
pressed  the  great  fact  of  known  ability,  of  great  ex 
perience,  of  large  acquaintance,  Its  ability  to  control  ah 
element  to  finance  a  hard  campaign:  an  element  that 
might  help  to  overcome  any  factional  opposition  in  the 
\  doubtful  states. 

The  opposition  delegates  centered  around  their  man 

were  pleading  for  a  more  complete  recognition  of  the 

West  as  the  coming  factor  in  the  growth  and  strengthen- 

*mg  of  the  party,  and  while  conceding  the  value  of  the 

ability  that  comes  from  experience,  claimed  for  their 

man  an  abundance  of  common  sense  on  which  they 

could  appeal" to  the  people  with  safety.    This,  with  the 

great  fact  of  the  demands  of  that  border  element  jf or 

i  consideration,   that  it  was   not  safe   to   ignore,   gave 

Astrength  to  the  appeal  of  the  opposition. 

The  issue  was  sharp,  keen  and  decisive.  The  call 
to  the  battle  ot  tKe  ballot  brought  us  face  to  face  with 
the  demand  for  a  duty  we  could  not  shirk,  or  we  would 
not  if  we  could.  We  felt  the  full  weight  of  the  responsi 
bility,  a  responsibility  that  by  our  act  might  involve ~the 
"Very  existence  of  the  Republic.  We  knew  that  our  man, 
whoever  heTmght  be,  must  be  depended  on  to  carry 
the  nation  through  the  most  critical  experience  of  its 
history.  The  coming  events  were  casting  their  dread 
shadows  before  us.  It  was  an  ordeal.  All  I  can  say  is — 
we  simply  put  our  trust  in  God,  and  He  who  makes  no 
mistakes  gave  us  Abraham  ErincoTn. 

Lincoln  having  been  nominated  and  the  excitement 
and  confusion  of  a  great  convention  over,  we  soon  came 
to  realize  that  the  country  was  not  fully  in  accord  with 


the  risk  we  had  assumed.  "What  does  it  mean?"  That 
was  the  message  from  every  direction.  As  a  fact  of 
unwritten  history,  I  may  say  right  here  that  the  nomina 
tion  of  Lincoln  at  that  time  created  at  first  over  a  large 
portion  of  the  North  more  anxiety  than  enthusiasm. 
Though  the  Seward  element,  especially  those  from 
New  York,  made  a  splendid  showing  of  graceful  yield 
ing  to  the  will  of  the  majority,  we  all  felt  that  a 
campaign  of  education  was  before  us. 

Hearing  that  the  Michigan  delegation  was  prepar 
ing  to  make  their  return  eventful,  that  a  special  train 
had  been  chartered  over  the  Michigan  Central  road 
from  Chicago  to  Detroit  with  cars  to  be  decorated  with 
Lincoln's  portrait  and  mottoes  starting  the  campaign, 
"setting  the  ball  to  rolling  for  Lincoln,"  as  they 
expressed  it,  I  went  over  to  the  Michigan  headquarters. 
1  had  decided  to  take  a  trip  to  my  old  home  in  the  East 
and  wanted  to  be  a  part  of  this  excursion  through 
Michigan  for  that  part  of  my  journey.  Governor 
Austin  Blair  was  exhorting  his  group  of  listeners  to 
forget  their  disappointments,  (for  Michigan  had  been 
for  Seward  from  start  to  finish)  and  unite  for  an  en 
thusiastic  beginning  of  the  campaign.  I  arranged  for  a 
place  in  that  crowd  of  excursionists. 

We  left  Chicago  early  the  next  morning  in  decorated 
cars.  Governor  Blair  had  telegraphed  to  the  impor 
tant  stations  along  the  road  of  our  coming,  urging  a 
turnout  to  meet  the  train  with  all  the  enthusiasm  they 
could  muster.  We  stopped  at  all  the  big  cities  on 
that  road  from  Niles  to  Detroit.  Good  crowds 
met  us  at  all  the  stops.  Governor  Blair  and  other 
speakers  would  alight  and  make  earnest  appeals  to 
the  crowds,  occasionally  someone  would  shout  "Three 
cheers  for  Governor  Blair,"  which  were  given  with  a 

15 


will,  but  during  that  whole  day,  from  Niles  to  Detroit, 
not  one  crowd  offered  a  single  cheer  for  Lincoln.  It 
was  a  nipping  frost  all  the  way  and  set  us  all  to  think 
ing,  what  next?  The  further  we  went  East  the  more 
pronounced  this  showing  of  disappointment  became. 

I  had  been  at  my  old  home  some  weeks  and  among 
the  younger  element  there  was  a  growing  feeling  that 
there  ought  to  be  something  doing  in  the  way  of  organ 
ization  for  campaign  work.  I  went  to  one  of  our  older 
citizens,  a  man  prominent  for  years  in  local  affairs,  a 
sort  of  political  oracle  and  I  said  to  him,  "Mr.  C— 
we  are  going  to  organize  a  Lincoln  Club  tomorrow 
evening  and  we  want  you  to  preside  and  give  us  some 
thing  to  enthuse."  He  said,  "I  won't  do  it,"  most 
emphatically.  aWhy  not?"  I  asked.  "I  will  tell  you 
why  not,"  he  replied.  "You  fellows  knew  at  Chicago 
what  this  country  is  facing.  You  knew  we  are  up  against 
the  most  critical  time  in  the  life  of  this  Nation.  You 
knew  that  it  will  take  the  very  best  ability  we  can 
produce  to  pull  us  through.  You  knew  that  above 
everything  else  these  times  demanded  a  statesman  and 
you  have  gone  and  given  us  a  rail  splitter.  No,  I  will 
not  preside  or  attend." 

It  may  seem  strange  to  us  now  but  this  sentiment 
reflected  the  feelings  of  a  good  proportion  of  our  people 
all  over  the  East  and  North.  It  had  to  be  met  by  strong 
faith  and  real  work. 

The  campaign  started  heavily.  Enthusiasm  was  lack 
ing  and  conditions  were  getting  more  and  more 
desperate.  In  this  state  of  the  public  mind,  waiting 
and  watching,  all  at  once  there  came  the  announcement 
that  Mr.  Seward  was  about  to  take  the  platform  and 
open  the  campaign  for  Lincoln.  It  was  our  first  gleam 
of  sunshine  from  out  of  the  depths  of  discouragement. 

16 


Mr.  Seward  was  a  big  man.  We  knew  that  the  country 
would  listen  to  what  he  had  to  say.  He  opened  the 
campaign  first  in  the  West  probably  to  get  some  of  that 
western  spirit  so  lacking  in  the  East.  His  political 
addresses  at  that  time  were  masterpieces  of  eloquence 
and  patriotism.  Immense  crowds  greeted  him  wher 
ever  he  spoke.  He  seemed  to  grow  with  the  occasion. 
It  was  a  wonderful  exhibition  of  unselfish  devotion  to 
his  party,  and  what  the  party  stood  for.  We  ought 
never  to  forget  Seward  for  his  splendid  work  in  that 
campaign.  He  proved  himself  a  patriot,  and  a  true, 
loyal  Republican. 

As  the  campaign  progressed  the  awakening  brought 
into  cooperation  a  new  element  that  up  to  this  time 
had  held  itself  aloof  from  active  participation  in  party 
politics.  This  was  the  radical  Anti-Slavery  group,  the 
Abolitionists  as  they  were  called.  This  element  made 
their  appeals  on  high  moral  grounds.  They  controlled 
the  most  eloquent  class  of  speakers  in  that  campaign,  a 
class  of  unselfish  men  and  women,  working  without  any 
thought  of  compensation,  devoted  to  the  work  of  arous 
ing  public  sentiment  against  the  wickedness  of  Slavery. 
With  the  "Wide  Awakes"  furnishing  the  cheers,  and 
this  element  awakening  the  moral  sentiment  of  our 
people  to  action,  the  campaign  soon  put  on  an  intensity 
that  was  overwhelming.  It  was  a  great  moral  upheaval 
all  over  the  North,  and  when  the  sixth  day  of  Novem 
ber  came  we  found  we  had  secured  the  electoral  vote 
of  every  Northern  State  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  giving  us  a  new  birth  of  Freedom  for  our  herit 
age,  and  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  as  our  accepted 
leader. 

We  had  hardly  gotten  over  our  first  shoutings  for 

17 


victory  won,  when  we  were  startled  by  events,  more 
drastic  than  any  of  us  had  anticipated. 

Only  two  days  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  President 
Buchanan  issued  an  order  through  his  Secretary  of 
War,  placing  Major  Beauregard,  an  avowed  dis- 
unionist,  in  charge  of  our  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point.  This  awakened  us  to  a  new  danger.  A  Presi 
dent  in  the  hands  of  the  disloyal,  with  four  months  to 
intervene,  before  the  voice  of  our  people  could  be  made 
effective. 

You  may  search  through  our  American  history  from 
those  primitive  days  of  Washington  down  to  these  deep, 
broad,  eventful  days  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  and  no  where 
will  you  find  a  time  or  a  season  when  this  Republic  of 
ours  came  so  near  to  a  complete  collapse  as  during  those 
days  between  the  election  and  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

For  the  first  time  in  our  history  we  had  elected  a 
president  who  was  openly  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery. 

The  South  with  its  four  millions  of  slaves,  and  its 
four  hundred  millions  invested  in  slave  products,  took 
instant  alarm,  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  Cavalier,  without 
stopping  to  count  the  cost,  rushed  madly  into  secession. 
The  North,  with  its  infusion  of  Pilgrim  blood,  moving 
calmly  and  slow  and  cool,  hesitated  and  talked  concilia 
tion,  for  the  North  more  fully  realized  at  first  the  cost 
and  terrors  of  war. 

Unfortunately  the  South  mistook  this  conciliatory 
spirit  for  a  species  of  cowardice  and  became  more  obdu 
rate  and  aggressive  than  ever.  Then  came  over  the 
North  one  of  the  most  strange  manifestations  of  public 
feeling  the  Republic  had  ever  known.  It  was  like  a 
great  hush  impending  a  terrible  calamity,  "Be  care- 


ful,"  "Say  nothing,"  "Do  nothing,  to  fan  this  flame  of 
disunion,"  "Speak  softly,"  "Keep  control  of  your  tongue 
and  your  pen,"  "Let  the  South  get  over  its  madness," 
"Don't  precipitate  collision."  This  was  the  feeling 
manifested  on  every  side  all  over  the  North. 

They  had  called  a  public  meeting  in  Boston  to  con 
sider  the  value  of  the  Union.  It  was  a  big  meeting  of 
the  solid  men  of  Boston.  Everett  and  Hilliard  had 
spoken  eloquently  of  the  work  of  holding  a  united  coun 
try  picturing  a  dissolution  as  meaning  that  grass  would 
grow  in  their  streets,  and  their  great  ships  would  lay 
rotting  at  their  wharves  until  restoration  should  come. 
When  the  chairman  said  "I  see  we  have  with  us  this 
evening  a  distinguished  citizen  always  patriotic,  always 
eloquent.  I  am  sure  we  shall  all  be  glad  to  listen  to 
Wendell  Phillips."  Hardly  had  he  mentioned  the 
name  of  Phillips  when  that  great  crowd  of  conservative 
business  men  broke  into  a  yelling  mob  and  "no,  no,  no," 
rung  out  from  all  parts  of  the  hall  and  before  Phillips 
could  say  a  word  this  mob  seized  him  and  in  spite  of 
a  vigorous  attempt  at  rescue  by  his  immediate  friends 
thrust  him  bodily  out  of  the  hall  for  fear  he  might  say 
something  that  would  offend  the  South. 

George  Wm.  Curtis  of  New  York,  one  of  the  finest 
scholars  and  orators  of  that  time,  the  man  who  made 
the  most  thrilling  appeal  for  the  inserting  of  a  portion 
of  the  "Declaration  of  Independence"  in  the  platform 
before  the  Lincoln  convention,  was  invited  to  come  to 
Philadelphia  to  speak.  He  had  announced,  "The 
Policy  of  Honesty"  as  his  subject.  When  he  reached 
Philadelphia  that  evening  he  found  a  mob  of  citizens 
blocking  the  way  to  the  hall,  defiant  and  riotous.  The 
owners  of  the  hall  fearing  the  destruction  that  might 
follow  his  attempt  to  speak  there  closed  the  building 

"9 


and  Curtis  went  back  to  New  York  without  being  able 
to  say  a  word  to  those  who  had  invited  him  to  come, 
and  so  free  speech,  one  of  the  guarantees  of  the  Con 
stitution,  a  plank  in  the  republican  platform  just  re- 
adopted  at  a  National  Convention,  was  absolutely 
denied  in  two  of  the  largest  republican  cities  of  the 
country  within  thirty  days  of  the  election  of  a  repub 
lican  President  on  a  free  speech  platform. 

And  that  was  the  condition  of  the  public  mind  when 
President  Buchanan  called  Congress  together  for  its 
last  session  during  his  term  and  sent  to  that  Congress 
the  most  unfortunate  message  ever  delivered  as  a  public 
document  in  the  entire  history  of  this  nation.  A 
message  practically  approving  and  excusing  the  South 
for  its  extreme  defiance  of  constitutional  demands,  and 
asserting  the  monstrous  doctrine  that  there  was  no 
power  in  Congress,  or  any  other  department  of  our 
government  to  coerce  any  State  into  remaining  in  the 
Union  that  desired  to  withdraw.  Nothing  ever  pro 
claimed  by  any  chief  magistrate  of  this  republic  has 
ever  approached  this  in  reckless  disregard  of  the  fixed 
purpose  on  which  the  whole  fabric  of  our  nationality 
must  rest.  The  effect  of  this  message  was  bewildering. 
Citizens  with  anxious  expression  asked:  "Is  Repub 
lican  Government  a  failure?  Is  there  no  cohesive 
power  in  our  system?  Is  this  Republic,  founded  by  a 
Washington,  through  seven  years  of  exhausting  war 
fare,  a  Republic  that  has  been  the  beacon  light  of  the 
liberty  loving  people  of  the  world  for  all  of  these  years, 
to  be  allowed  to  crumble  to  pieces?"  And  there  was 
no  response. 

Then  came  the  report  of  that  committee  on  concilia 
tion  consisting  of  33  members,  one  from  each  state,  all 
able  men,  with  Charles  Francis  Adams  of  Massachusetts 


20 


as  chairman,  offering  to  throw  into  the  scale  as  the  price 
of  peace  all  we  had  gained  in  twenty  years  of  anti- 
slavery  agitation,  practically  eliminating  the  right  of 
petition  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  slavery,  and  even 
that  met  with  no  response.  Passion  was  in  the  saddle, 
and  conciliation  was  thrown  to  the  winds.  The  re 
fusal  to  consider  this  on  the  part  of  the  South  has  been 
aptly  termed  by  one  of  her  most  illustrious  sons,  still 
living,  to  be  the  most  inexcusable  blunder  of  which  the 
South  has  ever  been  guilty. 

Then  followed  disasters  thick  and  fast. 

General  Twiggs  on  the  southwestern  border  treach 
erously  surrendered  the  whole  army  of  the  southwest 
without  resistance,  throwing  more  than  a  million 
dollars  worth  of  army  supplies  into  the  hands  of  our 
enemies  in  Texas,  just  as  we  needed  them  the  most. 

Louisiana  backed  her  wagons  up  to  the  door  of  the. 
United  States  Mint  at  New  Orleans  and  took  a  half 
million  newly  coined  dollars  and  removed  them  to  her 
own  vaults  without  a  hand  being  raised  in  opposition. 

New  Orleans  had  assembled  a  fleet  of  armed  boats, 
seized  the  two  forts  below  the  city,  put  a  chain  across 
the  river  and  blockaded  the  Mississippi  against  the 
commerce  of  the  wrorld,  for  the  first  time  since  the  days 
of  LaSalle.  Batteries  were  being  erected  along  our 
Southern  coast  line  in  the  rear  of  our  national  forts  to 
destroy  if  they  could  not  control.  Seven  states  had 
withdrawn  from  the  Union  and  were  organizing  a 
hostile  government  under  a  hostile  flag  at  Mont 
gomery.  South  Carolina  had  appointed  a  commission 
to  demand  a  quit  claim  deed  to  the  lands  on  which  our 
forts  stood  in  her  harbors  on  the  plea  that  she  was  a 
sovereign  state  and  the  United  States  government  was 
trespassing  on  her  territory.  Every  department  of  our 


government  was  honeycombed  by  treason  and  disloyalty. 
Our  army  had  become  reduced  to  less  than  ten  thou 
sand  men,  and  they  were  mostly  on  the  Indian  borders. 
Our  navy  had  been  so  distributed  that  there  were  not 
armed  vessels  enough  between  our  yards  at  Norfolk 
and  Portsmouth  to  blockade  a  single  port,  and  our  na 
tional  treasury  was  so  near  to  bankruptcy  that  Secre 
tary  Dix  was  offering  twelve  per  cent  interest  in  New 
York  for  money  enough  to  carry  the  administration 
through  to  the  end.  One  dark  cloud  of  uncertainty  and 
distrust  enveloped  our  entire  horizon.  The  republic 
seemed  to  be  groping  its  way  toward  dissolution. 

We  looked  through  all  this  gloom  one  day  in  Feb 
ruary,  1 86 1,  to  Illinois  and  we  saw  standing  at  the  rail 
way  station  of  her  capital  city  a  tall,  angular,  kindly 
faced  man,  the  centre  of  a  group  of  friends,  greeting 
him  with  their  good  wishes  and  farewells.  It  was  our 
President-elect  about  to  start  on  his  journey  to  the 
Capitol  to  assume  charge  of  the  Government. 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  place  on  the  rear  platform 
of  the  car  that  was  to  take  him  on  his  journey,  his 
friends  gathered  closely  about  him  to  hear  what  he 
might  have  to  say.  With  a  heart  full  of  emotion  look 
ing  into  their  anxious  upturned  faces  Mr.  Lincoln  said, 
"My  friends — No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appre 
ciate  the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  you  I  owe  all 
that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  here  my  children  were  born,  and  here  one 
of  them  lies  buried.  I  know  not  when  I  shall  meet  you 
again.  A  duty  devolves  on  me  such  as  has  devolved  on 
no  man  of  this  nation  since  Washington.  He  never 
would  have  succeeded  but  for  the  aid  of  a  Divine 
Providence  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel 
that  I  cannot  succeed  without  that  same  divine  assist- 


22 


ance  and  on  that  almighty  arm  I  lean  for  support,  and 
I  want  you,  my  friends,  to  pray  that  I  may  have  that 
support  without  which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with 
which  success  is  certain.  I  bid  you  all  an  affectionate 
farewell." 

As  the  train  bearing  Mr.  Lincoln  toward  the  Capitol 
made  its  way  East  great  multitudes  assembled  at  the 
stations  to  meet  him  for  the  first  time  and  to  hear  what 
he  might  have  to  say.  Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  practically  unknown  outside  of  Illinois.  He  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  campaign,  preferring  to  remain  at 
Springfield  and  to  meet  his  friends  there.  He  had 
shown  that  "adroitness,"  that  Greeley  had  spoken  of, 
in  avoiding  many  entangling  suggestions  designed  to 
draw  him  out  to  his  disadvantage,  and  had  given  the 
opposition  no  club  to  drive  home  their  special  scares. 
The  deep  feeling  of  solicitude  over  the  prevailing  con 
ditions  made  the  greetings  peculiarly  impressive  in 
their  lack  of  the  usual  enthusiasm.  We  all  realized  the 
tremendous  responsibilities  ahead  of  him.  He  seemed 
to  be  the  last  prop  on  which  the  whole  structure  must 
rest.  And  so  as  he  went  on  his  way  all  we  could  say 
was: 

"Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 

our  faith, 

Triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 
Are  all  with  thee,  are  all  with  thee." 

We  saw  him  reach  the  Capitol  in  safety  through  a 
danger  zone  that  looked  threatening,  and  our  hearts 
beat  more  quickly  than  for  weeks  before. 

We  saw  him  on  the  fourth  of  March  standing  before 
the  Capitol  in  the  presence  of  20,000  people  to  take  the 
oath  that  should  make  him  President. 

It  was  a  scene  full  of  the  deepest  significance.  There 
stood  the  venerable  Chief  Justice  Roger  Taney,  in  his 

23 


long  black  robe  reaching  to  the  platform,  his  thin 
white  hair  coming  to  his  shoulders  and  his  fine  Roman 
face  wonderfully  impressive,  the  embodyment  of  that 
decree  that  "Freedom  and  slavery  had  equal  rights 
under  the  national  domain,"  and  there  stood  our  coming 
Chief  Magistrate,  with  the  entire  North  at  his  back, 
the  embodyment  of  that  other  declaration,  "This  Na 
tion  of  ours  cannot  permanently  endure  half  slave  and 
half  free."  Surely  we  all  recognized  the  fact  that  we 
had  come  to  the  parting  of  the  ways.  It  was  the  even 
ing  before  the  dawning  of  our  new  National  Creation. 
As  Mr.  Lincoln  came  forward  to  deliver  his  address, 
quiet  swept  over  that  great  assembly  that  was  intense. 
All  seemed  to  recognize  the  tremendous  significance  of 
the  occasion. 

It  was  masterly  and  effective,  the  greatest  argument 
for  the  right  of  a  Nation  to  self  preservation  that  had 
been  uttered  since  the  days  of  Webster.  The  North 
received  it  with  supreme  satisfaction.  It  placed  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  once  in  a  firm  place  in  the  confidence  and 
hearts  of  the  people.  It  was  an  inspiration  to  us  all, 
and  the  country  awoke  to  the  fact  that  they  had  a  real 
leader,  one  whom  they  could  trust.  Concluding  he 
said: 

"I  therefore  consider  that  in  view  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  this  Union  is  not  broken,  and  I  shall  see 
to  it  as  the  Constitution  expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that 
to  the  best  of  my  ability  the  laws  of  the  Union  are 
faithfully  enforced  in  all  the  States.  I  trust  this  may 
not  be  considered  a  menace,  but  as  a  declared  purpose 
that  this  Union  will  maintain  and  defend  itself." 

We  all  knew  what  that  meant  and  that  night,  before 
the  stars  in  their  courses  had  glittered  on  the  dome  of 
that  Capitol,  this  Nation  knew  that  the  great  problem, 

24 


whether  or  not,  a  republic  founded  on  the  free  will  of 
the  people  could  subordinate  that  free  will  to  a  military 
dictation  and  stand  the  shock  of  a  civil  war,  was  about 
to  be  tested. 

That  evening  as  Mr.  Lincoln  went  to  the  White 
House,  sixty  armed  men  from  Kansas  took  shelter  at 
and  about  that  home,  and  were  on  duty  there  nearly 
sixty  days,  to  guard  our  President  against  assassination, 
and  they  were  needed. 

When  you  sit  at  your  feasts  and  call  for  your  great 
song  of  "Praise  for  the  powers  that  have  made  and 
preserved  us  a  Nation,"  think  on  these  things. 

The  first  work  of  the  President  and  his  cabinet  was 
to  reinforce  and  strengthen  the  forts  on  our  Southern 
coast  line.  This  brought  on  the  firing  on  our  flag. 
Then  there  was  a  response.  Then  in  answer  to  the  call 
of  Lincoln  came  the  long  roll  of  the  drum,  the  sharp 
calls  of  the  bugle,  the  unfurling  of  the  flag,  and  the 
rushing  forward  of  75,000  volunteers  to  the  defense  of 
the  capital.  We  thought  that  a  fine  army,  as  it  camped 
on  the  Potomac  in  those  early  days  full  of  enthusiasm. 
It  was  but  the  advance  guard  of  a  real  army  of  a 
million  that  must  follow  before  the  end  should  come. 

Then  came  war.  Cruel,  vindictive,  grim  visaged 
war.  At  times  we  were  wild  in  our  exultings  over 
victories,  only  to  find  ourselves  the  very  next  day  sub 
merged  in  the  bitter  waters  of  defeat  and  disaster.  And 
so  this  went  on  for  weeks  and  months,  for  four  long 
years,  with  our  roadways  filled  with  stragglers  and 
strugglers,  the  wounded  and  the  dying  pressed  back  by 
the  awful  heat  of  conflict  at  the  front,  while  down  those 
same  roads,  facing  the  other  way,  came  regiment  after 
regiment,  the  best  blood  of  the  nation,  pressing  for 
ward  to  fill  those  awful  gaps. 

25 


And  through  this  all  for  that  dreadful  four  years 
stood  Mr.  Lincoln  inspired  by  the  faith  and  the  con 
fidence  of  the  people,  stood  like  a  rock  for  the  integ 
rity  of  the  Union,  for  the  preservation  of  this  Nation, 
this  Nation  so  dear  to  us  today;  Tried  as  no  other 
man  of  our  Nation  has  ever  been  tried.  Tried  by 
treason  and  disloyalty  all  about  him.  Tried  by  disap 
pointment  in  men  to  whom  he  had  entrusted  important 
undertakings.  Tried  by  the  awful  sacrifices  the  coun 
try  was  making  in  blood  and  treasure,  by  the  sufferings 
of  the  hospitals  and  prison  pens.  Tried  by  the  per 
plexing  and  domineering  demands  of  our  foreign 
relations,  with  only  one  Nation  in  all  Europe  that  we 
could  depend  on  as  our  friend.  Tried  by  the  appeals  of 
mothers  for  pardons  for  their  wayward  boys,  appeals 
that  touched  every  fibre  of  his  great  heart.  There  he  sat 
in  the  lone  watches  of  the  night  by  that  single  telegraph 
operator  listening  so  intently  as  the  sounds  came  in  over 
the  wire  from  the  front  whether  they  told  of  more 
victories  or  more  disasters. 

By  his  great  humanity  teaching  us  all  more  charity 
and  less  malice,  by  his  great  faith  inspiring  our  hope 
fulness,  by  his  great  patience  exhorting  us  all  to  wait 
calmly  on  God's  own  time  when  this  bitter  cup  of  civil 
war  should  pass  from  us,  we  were  able  to  wait  in  faith 
and  in  patience  until  the  integrity  of  this  Nation  was 
secure  under  universal  liberty.  Then  the  great 
black  clouds  of  war  rolled  back  and  revealed  to  us 
Appomattox. 

Then  arose  the  hallelujah  chorus  of  victory.  Then 
joy  reigned  supreme.  Then  mothers  stood  at  their 
gateways  looking  down  the  roads  to  the  South  in  their 
delirium  of  expectancy,  watching  for  the  hour,  "When 
Johnnie  comes  marching  home  again."  Then  the 


churches  threw  open  their  doors  and  there  welled  out 
on  that  April  air  "Beautiful  upon  the  Mountains  are 
the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  glad  tidings,  that  pub- 
lisheth  Peace,  that  saith  unto  Zion,  Thy  Lord  is  God." 

But  our  triumph  was  of  short  duration  for  right  in 
the  midst  of  the  rejoicing  came  that  awful  tragedy, 
and  our  leader  lay  dead  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin, 
just  at  the  dawning  of  the  morning  when  Peace  like 
the  first  glintings  of  returning  day  "stood  tip  toe  on 
our  misty  mountain  tops,"  and  this  great  Nation  bowed 
in  irrepressible  grief. 

They  bore  his  body  tenderly  and  laid  it  under  the 
great  dome  of  the  Capitol  where  for  three  days  and 
nights  came  that  endless  procession  with  faces  moist 
ened  by  the  dews  of  grief  to  take  their  last  look  on  that 
face  they  had  known  so  well  through  all  those  anxious 
days.  There  were  scenes  there  too  touching  to  dwell 
upon. 

It  was  decided  that  his  body  should  have  its  resting 
place  at  his  home  city  in  the  West,  that  the  funeral 
attended  by  the  chief  men  of  the  Government  should  be 
in  charge  of  General  Joe  Hooker — who  had  come 
down  from  the  clouds  of  Lookout  Mountain. 

As  that  funeral  procession  reached  Philadelphia 
100,000  people  of  that  city,  formed  in  solid  ranks  reach 
ing  from  curb  to  curb,  escorted  that  body  to  its  night's 
rest  in  old  Independence  Hall,  and  there,  in  the  sacred 
precincts  of  that  chamber  where  the  Republic  was  born, 
the  very  stillness  was  eloquent  in  tribute  to  him  who 
had  done  so  much  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  its 
honor. 

But  it  remained  for  the  city  of  New  York  to  show 
the  greatest  depth  of  feeling  ever  shown  by  any  city 
of  this  country  before  or  since.  New  York  had  seemed 


unkind  to  Mr.  Lincoln  during  the  later  months  of  the 
war.  With  her  more  than  unfriendly  mayor,  her  crit 
ical  press  and  her  draft  riots,  she  had  given  him  many 
an  anxious  day  and  many  a  sleepless  night,  but  he  was 
dead  now,  and  New  York  seeing  her  mistake,  stood 
ready  to  do  penance.  When  the  funeral  procession 
reached  the  confines  of  that  municipality  New  York 
with  its  thousands  of  arteries  of  trade  and  commerce 
stood  absolutely  still.  The  walls  of  Broadway  were 
hung  in  black  for  miles.  Great  billows  of  crape  floated 
from  all  the  public  buildings. 

As  that  magnificent  funeral  car  that  the  city  had 
provided  moved  slowly  up  that  great  avenue,  decked 
with  its  thousand  nodding  plumes,  bearing  the  body  of 
our  President,  New  York  stood  with  uncovered  head, 
in  grateful  tribute  to  him  they  had  so  misunderstood. 

Banners  were  in  evidence  everywhere.  Banners  with 
messages  of  honor  and  sympathy  from  all  kinds  of 
organizations  and  from  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  men, 
some  even  in  foreign  language,  but  there  was  one  ban 
ner  with  a  message  stretched  across  lower  Broadway 
that  attracted  special  attention.  It  seemed  like  a  wire 
less  tribute  to  our  immortal  martyr,  direct  from  the 
immortal  Bard,  and  this  was  the  message: 

"After  life's  fitful  fever,  he  sleeps  well; 
Treason  has  done  its  worst; 

Nor  steel  nor  poison,  malice,  domestic  foreign  levy, 
Nothing  can  touch  him  further. 
He  hath  borne  his  faculties  so  meek, 
Hath  been  so  clear  in  his  great  office, 
That  his     virtues   will    plead    like    angels,    trumpet 

tongued, 
Against  the  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off." 


And  so  this  funeral  procession  moved  on  toward  the 
West,  each  city  vying  with  the  other  to  see  which 
could  show  the  highest  honors,  and  the  deepest  sym 
pathy,  till  at  last  it  reached  its  final  resting  place,  and 
there,  in  the  presence  of  the  dignitaries  of  this  great 
Nation,  the  body  of  our  President,  the  same  who  had 
come  to  that  little  city  years  before  a  raw  backwoods 
man,  clothed  in  the  homespun  that  he  had  earned  by 
the  splitting  of  rails,  was  laid  to  its  final  rest  with  a 
pomp  and  circumstance  befitting  the  burial  of  a  king. 

Those  were  memorable  days,  those  days  of  the  sixties. 
They  were  the  golden  days  of  this  Republic,  the  intense 
days,  the  days  of  the  heroic — days  of  great  men,  and 
of  grand  women,  days  of  great  citizens,  great  states 
men,  and  great  soldiers.  Our  National  Constellation 
was  all  aglow  with  stars  of  the  first  magnitude. 

The  great  Apostle  tells  us  that  one  star  differeth 
from  another  star  in  glory,  and  we  believe  this,  for 
we  each  have  our  ideal  among  the  stars,  but  the  one 
ideal  nearest  today  to  this  great  loyal  American  heart, 
is  that  sad,  anxious,  kindly  face  of  ABRAHAM  LIN 
COLN.  There  he  stands  without  one  medal  on  his 
breast  to  tell  us  of  his  valor,  without  one  particle  of 
gold  lace  to  testify  to  his  rank;  just  the  plain  citizen, 
but  the  grandest  citizen  ever  produced  by  the  greatest 
Republic  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 


ADDISON  G.  PROCTER 

Addison  G.  Procter  was  born  at  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  in  July,  1838. 
His  father  was  a  successful  merchant,  the  owner  of  a  large  fleet  of  fishing 
schooners,  and  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislation. 
Many  of  the  descendants  still  reside  there. 

In  1857,  at  the  age  of  19,  full  of  enthusiasm,  and  the  inspiration  of 
"Free  homes  for  free  men,"  he  started  alone  for  Kansas  to  help  in  the 
struggle  to  make  Kansas  a  free  state.  He  had  just  graduated  from  the 
high  school  and  did  not  know  a  soul  west  of  Boston. 

He  reached  Kansas  at  the  end  of  a  two  weeks'  journey  and  found  instant 
employment  in  the  mercantile  establishment  of  Mayor  Blood  of  Lawrence. 
After  serving  there  some  six  months  he  was  sent  to  Emporia  by  Mayor  Blood 
to  take  charge  of  the  branch  establishment  located  there. 

Emporia  at  that  time  was  the  radiating  center  of  a  big  emigration 
pouring  into  the  southwest  part  of  the  territory.  After  a  year  of  active 
business  he  purchased  this  branch  establishment  and,  having  the  only  fire 
proof  safe  in  that  active  section,  became  a  sort  of  banker  for  the  group  of 
settlers  making  new  homes  in  that  attractive  valley  region.  This  gave  him 
a  large  and  popular  acquaintance  with  the  newcomers,  and  in  April,  1860, 
when  the  Territorial  Convention,  to  select  delegates  to  the  National  Repub 
lican  Convention  at  Chicago  met  at  Lawrence,  this  whole  section  of  nineteen 
counties,  without  a  word  of  solicitation  on  his  part,  sent  a  unanimous 
delegation  to  the  convention,  urging  his  name  as  delegate,  which  the  conven 
tion  unanimously  approved.  He  was  then  but  twenty-one  and  naturally  the 
youngest  of  the  prospective  delegates. 

The  struggle  going  on  in  Kansas,  attracting  the  intense  interest  of  the 
whole  country,  gave  to  this  delegation  many  special  opportunities  to  get 
into  close  touch  with  many  of  the  famous  members  of  that  national  convention 
and  to  learn  of  the  inside  influence  and  much  of  the  unwritten  history  of 
the  events  that  culminated  in  the  nomination  of  Lincoln.  It  is  this  that  gave 
special  value  to  his  address  on  that  event  of  our  national  life. 

From  1861  to  1864  Mr.  Procter  was  on  a  special  mission  to  the  Indian 
Territory,  a  work  demanding  courage  and  discretion  of  a  high  order,  and 
which  was  especially  appreciated  by  Secretary  John  P.  Usher  of  Lincoln's 
cabinet.  Returning  to  Emporia  after  three  years  of  border  life,  he  sold  his 
business  interests  there  and  became  head  of  a  wholesale  business  in  St.  Louis, 
where  for  twelve  years  he  prospered.  From  St.  Louis  he  moved  to  Chicago, 
representing  there  for  the  next  ten  years  the  Gloucester  fishery  interests.  In 
1889  Mr.  Procter  moved  to  St.  Joseph,  Michigan,  where  he  has  since  resided 
in  comfortable  retirement,  doing  his  part  as  a  useful  citizen,  the  recipient 
of  many  evidences  of  kindly  interest  from  the  good  people  of  that  community 
and  from  Lincoln  lovers  throughout  the  United  States. 

At  the  request  of  the  Michigan  delegations  he  has  occupied  a  platform 
seat  at  the  two  last  Republican  National  Conventions.  As  far  as  known 
he  is  the  sole  surviving  delegate  to  the  convention  of  1860.  Mr.  Procter's 
recollections  of  the  Lincoln  convention  delivered  before  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society  are  now  published  for  the  first  time.  Since  its  delivery  last  April 
the  Society  has  received  numerous  letters  requesting  copies  of  this  address, 
many  pronouncing  this  the  most  satisfying  Lincoln  address  the  writers  have 
ever  listened  to. 

At  the  age  of  eighty  years,  Mr.  Procter  is  in  splendid  health  and  says 
he  finds  much  in  life  to  enjoy.  In  him  the  modern  and  the  old  school  mingle 
and  lend  a  charm  that  has  endeared  him  to  four  generations  of  friends. 
But  even  those  who  looked  into  his  boyish,  cheerful  face  and  felt  the  strong 
grip  of  his  hand  for  the  first  time  last  April  count  as  a  high  privilege  this 
meeting  with  a  man  of  the  Lincoln  stamp  and  the  Lincoln  time,  "When,"  as 
Mr.  Procter  says,  "all  eyes  turned  to  Illinois." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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APR  6     19S9 


MAR  14  1959. 

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LD  21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 


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MAY  12  1967  15 

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